a) Field of the Invention
The invention is directed to a Q-switched solid state laser with adjustable pulse length, particularly with a pulse length up to several microseconds and an energy content up to several millijoules, and is generally intended for material processing and specifically for treating biological tissue, for example, for ophthalmologic applications.
b) Description of the Relevant Art
The aim of ophthalmologic laser treatment is, among others, the thermal destruction of diseased tissue (coagulation). However, in so doing, healthy surrounding tissue is usually also affected or destroyed by the thermal action at the same time. Accordingly, there is a need to limit the heating spatially to a central treatment area with diseased tissue in order to protect the healthy tissue as far as possible; this can be accomplished with laser pulses of determined pulse length, pulse energy and repetition rates.
DE 39 36 716, for example, discloses a device for influencing material by pulsed laser radiation and describes the advantage of pulsed laser treatment compared with continuous-wave treatment of biological tissue. In this case, a temporal and spatial switching device of the light source is provided for repeated irradiation with light pulses for deliberately influencing material changes on the direct light-absorbing structures of the irradiated material and their immediate surroundings in a spatially limited manner.
Patent DE 44 01 917 C2 (Brinkmann) and references contained therein describe laser arrangements providing pulsed light with pulse lengths of several microseconds. However, the cost is quite high. For one, the pulses are generated by electro-optic Q-switching, which requires handling high voltages in the kV range (Pockels cell). On the other hand, a very fast feedback loop is used which adjusts the loss control during formation of the laser pulse by means of the Q-switch. A portion of the laser output is converted into an electric signal and is used for feedback. This allows lengthening of the laser pulses to the microsecond range.
Pulse generation by means of a saturable absorber would also be conceivable, but would additionally require the pulse lengthening unit comprising Pockels cell and feedback too. Together with the necessary output electronics for the feedback, this construction requires extensive space and, due to the water cooling among other reasons, is difficult to transport.
A compact Q-switched diode-pumped solid state laser with acousto-optic Q-switching is described in Patent Application No. 199 27 918.7, not yet published, in which exacting requirements are imposed on the quality of the dielectric layers of resonator components, since there is high radiation loading in the laser crystals with pulsed laser radiation. The arrangement described in this reference uses an acousto-optic Q-switch which can be installed in compact devices because of its small dimensions. Loss control in acousto-optic Q-switching is carried out by an ultrasonic wave which is generated in a crystal and which acts upon the laser beam traveling across it as a grating which diffracts part of the laser intensity circulating in the resonator. The pulse lengthening is carried out in this case solely through the presence of a frequency doubler which functions at the same time as a pulse output-coupler. It is disadvantageous that the pulse lengthening is no longer adequate in the range of high pulse energies required for the treatment of biological tissue because the inversion in the laser medium decreases faster as pulse energy circulating in the resonator increases.
YAG crystals are preferably used as active media, although other laser crystals are also possible. Lasers of this type are known to be robust in the sense that they retain their characteristics over a long period, even under environmental influences such as changes in temperature or jolting caused by transport. The laser emission wavelength lies in the near infrared range and is not usable for ophthalmologic laser coagulation treatment. However, efficient conversion of the wavelength of the radiated laser light into the visible spectral region with a frequency-doubling crystal within the resonator makes it possible to generate laser pulses that are suitable for such treatment.
It is the primary object of the invention to provide a Q-switched solid state laser with adjustable pulse length by which the disadvantages of the prior art are extensively eliminated and in which an adjustment of the pulse length in the xcexcs range is achieved economically with small volume and with great dependability and high stability.
According to the invention, this object is met in a Q-switched solid state laser comprising a laser crystal, focusing elements, a pump radiation source whose pump radiation is focused by focusing elements into the laser crystal, a resonator formed by reflecting surfaces in which at least one laser crystal, an acousto-optic switch for Q-switching and, if desired, a frequency doubling crystawherein a (KTP) are arranged. The acousto-optic Q-switch is connected with an electronic unit generating a high frequency wave which can be modulated. The Q-switch is controlled by the high-frequency wave in such a way that laser pulses with pulse lengths of one or more microseconds can be generated by controlling the steepness of the edge of the modulation function of the high frequency wave providing laser pulses with suitable parameters. Further constructions and details of the invention are described in the subsequent subclaims.
It is advantageous when means are provided for focusing the laser radiation in the frequency-doubling crystal in the resonator, wherein a switching edge of the modulation signals with a low slope is used for the Q-switch to prevent radiation damage to the frequency-doubling crystal.
It is further advantageous when a radiation attenuator is provided outside of the resonator for adjusting the energy of the emitted laser pulses.
In an advantageous construction of the invention, the adjustment of the energy of the laser pulses is achieved by means of controlling the intensity of the pump light source while adjusting the pulse length of the therapy (laser) radiation by controlling the edge steepness of the modulation of the high-frequency (HF) wave at the Q-switch.
It is advantageous to use as a monitor for the pulse energy the fluorescent light, which is emitted by the laser crystal shortly before the triggering of the laser pulse by converting it, e.g., by photoelectric elements, into electric signals that can be processed.
The solid state laser is also characterized, among other things, by the fact that the pump radiation source operates continuously or, as the case may be, also in pulsed regime in order to control, regulate or monitor thermal effects in the laser crystal. It may be advantageous to operate the pump radiation source in pulsed manner in order to prevent thermal effects in the laser crystal.
In ophthalmologic devices, it is advantageous when a quartz fiber which conducts light radiation and has a diameter of the order of 50 xcexcm is provided between the solid state laser and an applicator receiving the laser radiation, where the coupling efficiency of the radiation transmitted through the fiber is about 80%.
The invention extensively overcomes particularly the disadvantages particularly of the solid state laser described in DE Patent Application No. 199 27 918.7 since a further degree of freedom for realizing an adjustable pulse length of the laser radiation in a solid state laser is introduced by the variability of the modulation of the Q-switch edge. This additional degree of freedom makes it possible to provide lengthened laser pulses in the xcexcs range with extremely short resonators, two tendencies which would otherwise conflict. Accordingly, a xcexcs laser is realized which has a resonator length of the order of 10 cm, which, for example, also enables manufacture of a compact, stable laser.
The methods for generating and lengthening laser pulses stated (claimed) in the present Application work either with or without a frequency-doubling crystal. The amplitude of the ultrasonic wave of the acousto-optic Q-switching also determines the level of losses. It is possible to deliberately control laser losses by modulating this amplitude. The pulse lengthening is determined by the modulation function of the Q-switch driving HF-wave which is generated. The steepness of the leading switching edge of the modulation function determines the length of the emitted laser pulses. Accordingly, very stable laser pulses have been generated by the device presented herein, wherein the pulse width and pulse height of several thousand repeated laser pulses varied by no more than 10%. Fast fluctuations in pulse shape, e.g., formation of output peaks within a pulse, were not observed. Accordingly, this device makes do without a feedback loop for stabilizing the pulses.
The invention will be described more precisely in the following with reference to an embodiment example.